Mapping Austin’s Sustainability Scene

One of the things that has put me at the center of the eco-community for the last several years is the fact that I know so many people in different areas of sustainability and have so many connections in my head. I love connecting people and information, and resources so we can support each others’ efforts, eliminate duplication of efforts, collaborate for greater strength and a whole host of other reasons. However I spend a lot of time on the phone and meeting with people sharing information that if I would just write it down, they could help themselves to it. Furthermore, by making it editable by the community, we can get even more details filled out than are in my head….’cause I certainly don’t know it all.

This also fits into a bigger movement to map the various "scenes" of Austin. Heather McKissick and Bijoy Goswami have been shaping this idea called The Austin Equation. [http://www.atxequation.com/] Experience + Community = Scene. They have asked a variety of "scene stewards" to draw out maps of who’s who and what’s what in their scene. I agreed to to the Sustainability Scene since I had already started a map but hadn’t had the motivation to put much time into it. So far there are maps started for the following communities: Visual Art, Entrepreneurship, Non Profit, Spirituality, Music, Style, Social Innovation, Theater, Interactive and….SUSTAINABILITY! I know that a new map is in the works for mental health too.

The map is set to be editable by the public so please only add relevant things to the appropriate areas on the map. You will see that I’ve created a legend of colors for business, nonprofit and government that match the color scheme we use in the EcoDirectories [http://www.austineconet.wpengine.com/directory] on the Austin EcoNetwork website. Not everything that is in the EcoDirectories is even on the map yet. But it can be, with a little help!

It has been challenging to determine what legend color to assign and how to group and categorize organizations that have multiple missions. You may have other ideas about how to organize it. Before you go restructure the whole thing please touch base with me. I’ve made a run at it to give us a jumping off place. If you don’t want to make edits directly into the map you can send your ideas to me. If you would like to play a more significant role in shaping the Sustainability Scene Map call or email me and we’ll make a plan.